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After announcing the closure of 5 plants back in November, General Motors ended production of the Chevrolet Cruze at the Lordstown Ohio assembly plant last week. Now, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has said that in his discussions with General Motors, that the company has plans to make an announcement in about 4 to 6 weeks. DeWine said that it is his understanding that GM is looking to sell the plant, but that he doesn't know who GM is talking to.
While he reiterated his uncertainty, he said
The governor stated he or his office is in contact with GM at least twice a week.
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After announcing the closure of 5 plants back in November, General Motors ended production of the Chevrolet Cruze at the Lordstown Ohio assembly plant last week. Now, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has said that in his discussions with General Motors, that the company has plans to make an announcement in about 4 to 6 weeks. DeWine said that it is his understanding that GM is looking to sell the plant, but that he doesn't know who GM is talking to.
While he reiterated his uncertainty, he said
The governor stated he or his office is in contact with GM at least twice a week.

It hasn't been an easy go for Holden for almost the last decade. Sales have been declining for the past eight years and buyers haven't been wowed by either the new Commodore or their growing lineup of crossovers. This has reportedly brought the vultures out.
The Australian Financial Review reported yesterday that Inchcape, one of the largest independent vehicle importers has started discussions with General Motors about possibly taking over the importation of Holden vehicles. According to sources, the talks are going very slowly and there are "extreme sensitivities on both sides of the negotiating table." The talks will not include the transfer of Holden's engineering and design offices, along with the Lang Lang Proving Grounds. Inchcape has also hired one of the largest accounting firms to perform due diligence and looking into various scenarios.
The likely reason Inchcape is looking into this possibility is due to GM's restructuring plans. Already, the company has pulled out certain markets and is planning to possibly shut down various plants in the U.S.
Inchcape handles the import and retail duties for a number of automakers such as Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, and more in 32 countries. In Australia, Inchcape handles Citroen, Peugeot, and Subaru.
"Under the leadership of [GM Holden CEO] Dave Buttner, who was appointed in August last year, we are turning around the Holden business, growing sales, re-engaging and re-energizing our distribution network and launching exciting vehicles like the all-new Acadia. We are fully focused on supporting Dave in building a strong Holden for the future, as it remains an important part of GM's business," a spokesman for GM told the outlet.
When reached by CarsGuide for a comment, a spokesperson for Inchcape said, "We are always assessing a range of opportunities and initiatives in support of our Ignite strategy and we do not comment on speculation."
Source: Australian Financial Review (Subscription Required), CarAdvice, CarsGuide

It hasn't been an easy go for Holden for almost the last decade. Sales have been declining for the past eight years and buyers haven't been wowed by either the new Commodore or their growing lineup of crossovers. This has reportedly brought the vultures out.
The Australian Financial Review reported yesterday that Inchcape, one of the largest independent vehicle importers has started discussions with General Motors about possibly taking over the importation of Holden vehicles. According to sources, the talks are going very slowly and there are "extreme sensitivities on both sides of the negotiating table." The talks will not include the transfer of Holden's engineering and design offices, along with the Lang Lang Proving Grounds. Inchcape has also hired one of the largest accounting firms to perform due diligence and looking into various scenarios.
The likely reason Inchcape is looking into this possibility is due to GM's restructuring plans. Already, the company has pulled out certain markets and is planning to possibly shut down various plants in the U.S.
Inchcape handles the import and retail duties for a number of automakers such as Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, and more in 32 countries. In Australia, Inchcape handles Citroen, Peugeot, and Subaru.
"Under the leadership of [GM Holden CEO] Dave Buttner, who was appointed in August last year, we are turning around the Holden business, growing sales, re-engaging and re-energizing our distribution network and launching exciting vehicles like the all-new Acadia. We are fully focused on supporting Dave in building a strong Holden for the future, as it remains an important part of GM's business," a spokesman for GM told the outlet.
When reached by CarsGuide for a comment, a spokesperson for Inchcape said, "We are always assessing a range of opportunities and initiatives in support of our Ignite strategy and we do not comment on speculation."
Source: Australian Financial Review (Subscription Required), CarAdvice, CarsGuide
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Today is not a pleasant day if you're a white collar employee at General Motors. Last Friday, reports came out that GM would begin significant layoffs on their white-collar workforce.
Back in November, GM announced that it would be slashing 8,000 white-collar workers as part of plans to reduce costs. Already, 2,250 workers have agreed to voluntary buyouts. This leaves 5,750 workers waiting to be cut. But a GM spokesman Pat Morrissey said the number of people being laid off will be roughly around 4,000 people. Morrissey also confirmed that the layoffs will take around two weeks to complete.
"This will be implemented staff-by-staff and location-by-location over the next couple of weeks. We’re not going to get into which departments and when and where it’s happening. Some staffs have already implemented this over the last few weeks, but there’s more of it this week and next week," said Morrissey to the Detroit Free Press.
Various unnamed GM employees have told the Free Press they have been told about the cuts either by leadership or through email. One unnamed employee said the cuts were to begin at 9:30 A.M. and continue till 6:30 P.M.
The severance package being offered to workers will depend on how long they worked at GM. According to Automotive News, those who have worked at the company for 12 or more years will get a similar package to those who took the voluntary buyouts late last year - executives got a full- year of pay, while non-executives got six months. Health care benefits would be continued as part of the package.
Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), Detroit Free Press
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Today is not a pleasant day if you're a white collar employee at General Motors. Last Friday, reports came out that GM would begin significant layoffs on their white-collar workforce.
Back in November, GM announced that it would be slashing 8,000 white-collar workers as part of plans to reduce costs. Already, 2,250 workers have agreed to voluntary buyouts. This leaves 5,750 workers waiting to be cut. But a GM spokesman Pat Morrissey said the number of people being laid off will be roughly around 4,000 people. Morrissey also confirmed that the layoffs will take around two weeks to complete.
"This will be implemented staff-by-staff and location-by-location over the next couple of weeks. We’re not going to get into which departments and when and where it’s happening. Some staffs have already implemented this over the last few weeks, but there’s more of it this week and next week," said Morrissey to the Detroit Free Press.
Various unnamed GM employees have told the Free Press they have been told about the cuts either by leadership or through email. One unnamed employee said the cuts were to begin at 9:30 A.M. and continue till 6:30 P.M.
The severance package being offered to workers will depend on how long they worked at GM. According to Automotive News, those who have worked at the company for 12 or more years will get a similar package to those who took the voluntary buyouts late last year - executives got a full- year of pay, while non-executives got six months. Health care benefits would be continued as part of the package.
Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), Detroit Free Press

"Yesterday, General Motors met with representatives with Canadian union Unifor - the second in less in two weeks. Talks centered around Oshawa with Unifor pleading to reconsider plans of phasing out products at the plant to keep 3,000 jobs. But those talks went nowhere as GM is moving forward with their restructuring plans.
"Unfortunately, all Unifor’s proposals would involve substantial incremental costs and a further deterioration of GM’s competitive position. Having completed an analysis of Unifor’s proposals, GM has determined that it cannot pursue them because they would not combat the declining economic and market factors that must be addressed," wrote GM's vice president of manufacturing and labor relations Gerald Johnson and president of GM Canada Travis Hester to Unifor president Jerry Dias in a letter.
Unifor had proposed a number of ideas to GM keep Oshawa open including "continuing production of older trucks while the company looks for a longer-term option," according to The Detroit News. GM said no to the various ideas, but will support "retraining opportunities for Oshawa employees and working with businesses in the region to help facilitate relocation when the plant phases out production."
Dias wasn't too happy with the result of talks, saying at a press conference yesterday that GM leaders "in my opinion haven’t reached deep enough or far enough to find a solution. We are not accepting the closure of our Oshawa facilities under any circumstance."
Workers at Oshawa's afternoon shift staged a sit-down protest yesterday starting around 5:00 P.M. and lasting till 9:45 when GM decided to send them home. Photos and videos posted to Unifor Canada show workers sitting at their stations and buzzers sounding off. Automotive News reports that a second sit-down protest took place this morning for 90 minutes at 8:00 A.M.
“We understand our union’s frustration but need to now work together to deliver support, transition and training for our employees for new opportunities over the coming year,” GM Canada spokeswoman Jennifer Wright.
It is unclear if the protests will continue or how much production was lost. What is certain is that Unifor will hold a mass rally in Windsor on Friday.
Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), The Detroit News
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"Yesterday, General Motors met with representatives with Canadian union Unifor - the second in less in two weeks. Talks centered around Oshawa with Unifor pleading to reconsider plans of phasing out products at the plant to keep 3,000 jobs. But those talks went nowhere as GM is moving forward with their restructuring plans.
"Unfortunately, all Unifor’s proposals would involve substantial incremental costs and a further deterioration of GM’s competitive position. Having completed an analysis of Unifor’s proposals, GM has determined that it cannot pursue them because they would not combat the declining economic and market factors that must be addressed," wrote GM's vice president of manufacturing and labor relations Gerald Johnson and president of GM Canada Travis Hester to Unifor president Jerry Dias in a letter.
Unifor had proposed a number of ideas to GM keep Oshawa open including "continuing production of older trucks while the company looks for a longer-term option," according to The Detroit News. GM said no to the various ideas, but will support "retraining opportunities for Oshawa employees and working with businesses in the region to help facilitate relocation when the plant phases out production."
Dias wasn't too happy with the result of talks, saying at a press conference yesterday that GM leaders "in my opinion haven’t reached deep enough or far enough to find a solution. We are not accepting the closure of our Oshawa facilities under any circumstance."
Workers at Oshawa's afternoon shift staged a sit-down protest yesterday starting around 5:00 P.M. and lasting till 9:45 when GM decided to send them home. Photos and videos posted to Unifor Canada show workers sitting at their stations and buzzers sounding off. Automotive News reports that a second sit-down protest took place this morning for 90 minutes at 8:00 A.M.
“We understand our union’s frustration but need to now work together to deliver support, transition and training for our employees for new opportunities over the coming year,” GM Canada spokeswoman Jennifer Wright.
It is unclear if the protests will continue or how much production was lost. What is certain is that Unifor will hold a mass rally in Windsor on Friday.
Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), The Detroit News

Aside from announcing fourth-quarter sales numbers, General Motors had another big announcement today. GM's Product chief Mark Reuss will succeed Dan Ammann as the company's president. The appointment is effective immediately according to the company.
“I am very proud to have spent my entire career at General Motors, and to now take on this new role is truly a great honor. With our current lineup of outstanding cars, trucks, and crossovers around the world, I’m looking forward to keeping our momentum going at full speed,” said Reuss in a statement.
In November, GM announced Ammann would step down as GM President to take charge of GM's Cruise Automation unit.
Reuss will still be overseeing GM's Global Product Group and Cadillac, but will also add the responsibility for GM's quality organization. He will also be tasked with building out a product development team that will focus on autonomous and electrified vehicles.
Source: General Motors
Mark Reuss Named General Motors President
DETROIT — General Motors (NYSE: GM) today announced the appointment of Mark Reuss as company president, effective immediately. Reuss currently leads the Global Product Group and Cadillac and will now assume responsibility for the Quality organization.
“Mark’s global operational experience, deep product knowledge and strong leadership will serve us well as we continue to strengthen our current business, take advantage of growth opportunities and further define the future of personal mobility,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. “Mark has played a critical role in leading the development of the company’s award-winning vehicles while transitioning his team to prepare for growing electrification and autonomous technologies.”
According to Reuss, “I am very proud to have spent my entire career at General Motors, and to now take on this new role is truly a great honor. With our current lineup of outstanding cars, trucks and crossovers around the world, I’m looking forward to keeping our momentum going at full speed.”
Reuss added responsibilities for Cadillac and global portfolio planning in June 2018. Since then, he has been building an integrated product development and Cadillac organization to support an accelerated product and technology launch cadence and the brand’s global growth plans. Cadillac will be introducing a new vehicle every six months through 2021.
Reuss has also been leading the transformation of the company’s global product development workforce and processes to drive world-class levels of engineering in advanced technologies and improve quality and speed to market. He is doubling the resources allocated to electric and autonomous vehicle programs in the next two years.
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Aside from announcing fourth-quarter sales numbers, General Motors had another big announcement today. GM's Product chief Mark Reuss will succeed Dan Ammann as the company's president. The appointment is effective immediately according to the company.
“I am very proud to have spent my entire career at General Motors, and to now take on this new role is truly a great honor. With our current lineup of outstanding cars, trucks, and crossovers around the world, I’m looking forward to keeping our momentum going at full speed,” said Reuss in a statement.
In November, GM announced Ammann would step down as GM President to take charge of GM's Cruise Automation unit.
Reuss will still be overseeing GM's Global Product Group and Cadillac, but will also add the responsibility for GM's quality organization. He will also be tasked with building out a product development team that will focus on autonomous and electrified vehicles.
Source: General Motors
Mark Reuss Named General Motors President
DETROIT — General Motors (NYSE: GM) today announced the appointment of Mark Reuss as company president, effective immediately. Reuss currently leads the Global Product Group and Cadillac and will now assume responsibility for the Quality organization.
“Mark’s global operational experience, deep product knowledge and strong leadership will serve us well as we continue to strengthen our current business, take advantage of growth opportunities and further define the future of personal mobility,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. “Mark has played a critical role in leading the development of the company’s award-winning vehicles while transitioning his team to prepare for growing electrification and autonomous technologies.”
According to Reuss, “I am very proud to have spent my entire career at General Motors, and to now take on this new role is truly a great honor. With our current lineup of outstanding cars, trucks and crossovers around the world, I’m looking forward to keeping our momentum going at full speed.”
Reuss added responsibilities for Cadillac and global portfolio planning in June 2018. Since then, he has been building an integrated product development and Cadillac organization to support an accelerated product and technology launch cadence and the brand’s global growth plans. Cadillac will be introducing a new vehicle every six months through 2021.
Reuss has also been leading the transformation of the company’s global product development workforce and processes to drive world-class levels of engineering in advanced technologies and improve quality and speed to market. He is doubling the resources allocated to electric and autonomous vehicle programs in the next two years.

We've known for some time that both Tesla and General Motors would soon be reaching the 200,000 sales mark for electrics, meaning that $7,500 tax credit would begin phasing out. Yesterday, we reported Tesla cut prices on their 2019 model year vehicles to soften the blow. But what about GM?
A source told Reuters that GM hit the 200,000 model milestone during the fourth quarter of last year - most likely happening in December. This begins the 15-month phase-out which will see the credit drop to $3,750 in April, $1,875 in October, and then disappear next April. GM declined to comment about this, but we're likely to find out later this morning as the company will be announcing fourth-quarter sales.
Source: Reuters
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We've known for some time that both Tesla and General Motors would soon be reaching the 200,000 sales mark for electrics, meaning that $7,500 tax credit would begin phasing out. Yesterday, we reported Tesla cut prices on their 2019 model year vehicles to soften the blow. But what about GM?
A source told Reuters that GM hit the 200,000 model milestone during the fourth quarter of last year - most likely happening in December. This begins the 15-month phase-out which will see the credit drop to $3,750 in April, $1,875 in October, and then disappear next April. GM declined to comment about this, but we're likely to find out later this morning as the company will be announcing fourth-quarter sales.
Source: Reuters

General Motors got a rude awakening if they picked up a copy of the Detroit Free Press or Detroit News. Right on the front page is a large ad by Canadian union Unifor accusing GM executives of having the lack of support toward Canadian and U.S. plant workers after announcing certain products would be "unallocated" and bringing up the possible worry of plant closures.
One ad says, "U.S. and Canadian workers made GM," that follows with the question, "Why should our jobs and our products go to Mexico? Keep our plants open."
Automotive News notes that the ads weren't in any Candian papers. The most likely reason for that is that Unifor officials would be meeting with GM today at the Renaissance Center.
“GM needs to know that we are not accepting their announcement. It is crystal clear to myself and the leadership of the union that GM is leaving Canada. The newspaper ads are to let them know we are dead serious,” said Unifor president Jerry Dias.
Dias said the ads are to show GM that it will have “a real problem” selling new vehicles to consumers on either side of the border starting next year.
“GM has betrayed consumers in Canada and the United States. People are finally saying to GM, ‘You have gone too far.’ This is going on on both sides of the border,” he said.
GM in an emailed statement to Automotive News said, "The GM restructuring decisions are extremely difficult for all of us in Oshawa, but we believe the best approach is to work together to support our employees including support for local training and transition initiatives in the Durham Region. We remain strongly committed to Canada and will continue to engage in dialogue with Unifor."
GM also confirmed the meeting with Unifor but declined to provide any details about it.
Kristin Dziczek, vice president of Industry, Labor & Economics at the Center for Automotive Research said Unifor faces an uphill battle with GM as their negotiations don't till 2020, a year after the UAW does theirs.
"The UAW is going to go after any new product allocations for their two plants that are set to close and others that are underutilized," she said.
"If there's product to be got, the UAW is going to go after it first."
Dziczek also notes that Unifor's ads have "somewhat have a point" regarding GM's plants in Mexico, which are more utilized than many plants in Canada and the U.S.
"They have to look like they're fighting like mad, and there are lots of ways of doing that. This is one way."
We have a picture of the ad from the Detroit Free Press below if you're interested in what it looks like.
Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

General Motors got a rude awakening if they picked up a copy of the Detroit Free Press or Detroit News. Right on the front page is a large ad by Canadian union Unifor accusing GM executives of having the lack of support toward Canadian and U.S. plant workers after announcing certain products would be "unallocated" and bringing up the possible worry of plant closures.
One ad says, "U.S. and Canadian workers made GM," that follows with the question, "Why should our jobs and our products go to Mexico? Keep our plants open."
Automotive News notes that the ads weren't in any Candian papers. The most likely reason for that is that Unifor officials would be meeting with GM today at the Renaissance Center.
“GM needs to know that we are not accepting their announcement. It is crystal clear to myself and the leadership of the union that GM is leaving Canada. The newspaper ads are to let them know we are dead serious,” said Unifor president Jerry Dias.
Dias said the ads are to show GM that it will have “a real problem” selling new vehicles to consumers on either side of the border starting next year.
“GM has betrayed consumers in Canada and the United States. People are finally saying to GM, ‘You have gone too far.’ This is going on on both sides of the border,” he said.
GM in an emailed statement to Automotive News said, "The GM restructuring decisions are extremely difficult for all of us in Oshawa, but we believe the best approach is to work together to support our employees including support for local training and transition initiatives in the Durham Region. We remain strongly committed to Canada and will continue to engage in dialogue with Unifor."
GM also confirmed the meeting with Unifor but declined to provide any details about it.
Kristin Dziczek, vice president of Industry, Labor & Economics at the Center for Automotive Research said Unifor faces an uphill battle with GM as their negotiations don't till 2020, a year after the UAW does theirs.
"The UAW is going to go after any new product allocations for their two plants that are set to close and others that are underutilized," she said.
"If there's product to be got, the UAW is going to go after it first."
Dziczek also notes that Unifor's ads have "somewhat have a point" regarding GM's plants in Mexico, which are more utilized than many plants in Canada and the U.S.
"They have to look like they're fighting like mad, and there are lots of ways of doing that. This is one way."
We have a picture of the ad from the Detroit Free Press below if you're interested in what it looks like.
Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)
View full article

Al Oppenheiser is possibly one of the most important people working at General Motors being the chief engineer for the fifth and sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro. He helped bring back one of the most iconic muscle cars and make into something quite special. But Oppenheiser will soon face a new challenge.
Car and Driver reports that Oppenheiser will move over to GM's newly formed AV/EV organization to work on zero-emission-vehicle development. GM spokesman Michael Albano explained that they are moving "some of our best talent" to help work on their electrification efforts. Albano did acknowledge this was a lateral move, Oppenheiser would remain as a chief engineer.
"We have launched the final variant of this generation of Camaro, so the time is right" for him to move, said Albano.
What will be Oppenheiser's responsibility in this new position? Car and Driver says it will be "broader than one specific vehicle," meaning he'll be working on a number of vehicle styles.
Source: Car and Driver

Al Oppenheiser is possibly one of the most important people working at General Motors being the chief engineer for the fifth and sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro. He helped bring back one of the most iconic muscle cars and make into something quite special. But Oppenheiser will soon face a new challenge.
Car and Driver reports that Oppenheiser will move over to GM's newly formed AV/EV organization to work on zero-emission-vehicle development. GM spokesman Michael Albano explained that they are moving "some of our best talent" to help work on their electrification efforts. Albano did acknowledge this was a lateral move, Oppenheiser would remain as a chief engineer.
"We have launched the final variant of this generation of Camaro, so the time is right" for him to move, said Albano.
What will be Oppenheiser's responsibility in this new position? Car and Driver says it will be "broader than one specific vehicle," meaning he'll be working on a number of vehicle styles.
Source: Car and Driver
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General Motors' upcoming restructuring plan where more than 10,000 jobs will be cut and five factories losing products has caused many politicians to become very upset. Yesterday, CEO Mary Barra traveled to Capitol Hill to try an mitigate the social damage by this announcement. Those expecting Barra to backpedal or balk under pressure from various lawmakers on moving production of certain vehicles out of Mexico to plants in the U.S. would come away disappointed.
“I want to make sure that the workforce knows that there are limitations and we do have an overcapacity across the country. I understand this is something that impacts the country and I understand that there is a lot of emotion and concern about it,” Barra told reporters in a press conference after meeting Senators Sherrod Brown (Democrat) and Rob Portman (Republican) of Ohio.
The two senators have been critical about the plan and pushed Barra in their meeting to get a new product in Lordstown, whether that be one of the 20 new EVs GM is planning or move production of the Chevrolet Blazer from Mexico.
“GM says it expects to build 20 new EVs in next five years. We want one or more of those vehicles to be built in Lordstown, Ohio. That’s where it belongs,” said Portman.
Barra said during the meeting she'll "keep an open mind but she doesn't want to raise expectations."
Speaking to Reuters, Barra said it would “very costly” to shift production from Mexico of the Chevrolet Blazer that will begin shortly. But she did mention "GM planned to add other products at U.S. plants next year." Whether that includes Lordstown or not remains to be seen as negotiations with the UAW kick off next year.
President Donald Trump has been very critical of this plan, saying he could eliminate federal subsidies on electric cars - something that would hurt other automakers more than GM as it's close to 200,000 mark where the $7,500 subsidy begins to fade. When asked about this, Barra gave an indirect answer.
“I understand this is something that impacts the country and I understand that there is a lot of emotion and concern about it,” said Barra.
She continued by saying GM wanted to “do the right thing for our employees but also make sure General Motors is strong and lean in the future.”
Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), Detroit Free Press, Reuters
GM Statement: Chairman and CEO Mary Barra on meetings with members of Congress from Ohio and Maryland
“I had very constructive meetings with members of Congress from Ohio and Maryland. I share their concerns about the impact the actions we announced last week will have on our employees, their families and the communities. These were very difficult decisions -- decisions I take very personally. I informed the members that many hourly employees at the impacted U.S. plants will have the opportunity to work at other U.S. GM plants and that we are committed to working with them to minimize the impact on the communities. I also informed them that all salaried GM workers impacted by these actions are being offered outplacement services to help them transition to new jobs.”
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General Motors' upcoming restructuring plan where more than 10,000 jobs will be cut and five factories losing products has caused many politicians to become very upset. Yesterday, CEO Mary Barra traveled to Capitol Hill to try an mitigate the social damage by this announcement. Those expecting Barra to backpedal or balk under pressure from various lawmakers on moving production of certain vehicles out of Mexico to plants in the U.S. would come away disappointed.
“I want to make sure that the workforce knows that there are limitations and we do have an overcapacity across the country. I understand this is something that impacts the country and I understand that there is a lot of emotion and concern about it,” Barra told reporters in a press conference after meeting Senators Sherrod Brown (Democrat) and Rob Portman (Republican) of Ohio.
The two senators have been critical about the plan and pushed Barra in their meeting to get a new product in Lordstown, whether that be one of the 20 new EVs GM is planning or move production of the Chevrolet Blazer from Mexico.
“GM says it expects to build 20 new EVs in next five years. We want one or more of those vehicles to be built in Lordstown, Ohio. That’s where it belongs,” said Portman.
Barra said during the meeting she'll "keep an open mind but she doesn't want to raise expectations."
Speaking to Reuters, Barra said it would “very costly” to shift production from Mexico of the Chevrolet Blazer that will begin shortly. But she did mention "GM planned to add other products at U.S. plants next year." Whether that includes Lordstown or not remains to be seen as negotiations with the UAW kick off next year.
President Donald Trump has been very critical of this plan, saying he could eliminate federal subsidies on electric cars - something that would hurt other automakers more than GM as it's close to 200,000 mark where the $7,500 subsidy begins to fade. When asked about this, Barra gave an indirect answer.
“I understand this is something that impacts the country and I understand that there is a lot of emotion and concern about it,” said Barra.
She continued by saying GM wanted to “do the right thing for our employees but also make sure General Motors is strong and lean in the future.”
Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), Detroit Free Press, Reuters
GM Statement: Chairman and CEO Mary Barra on meetings with members of Congress from Ohio and Maryland
“I had very constructive meetings with members of Congress from Ohio and Maryland. I share their concerns about the impact the actions we announced last week will have on our employees, their families and the communities. These were very difficult decisions -- decisions I take very personally. I informed the members that many hourly employees at the impacted U.S. plants will have the opportunity to work at other U.S. GM plants and that we are committed to working with them to minimize the impact on the communities. I also informed them that all salaried GM workers impacted by these actions are being offered outplacement services to help them transition to new jobs.”

This morning, General Motors announced an overhaul of its operations in 2019 which will involve cutting more than 10,000 workers and possibly closing five plants by the end of the year. GM said the cuts should boost cash flow by six billion by the end of 2020.
“The actions we are taking today continue our transformation to be highly agile, resilient and profitable, while giving us the flexibility to invest in the future. We recognize the need to stay in front of changing market conditions and customer preferences to position our company for long-term success,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra in a statement.
The plants up for possible closure are,
Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Michigan - Home to Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac CT6, Chevrolet Impala, and Chevrolet Volt.
Lordstown Assembly in Ohio - Home to Chevrolet Cruze.
Oshawa Assembly in Ontario, Canada - Home to Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Impala, and finishing production of last-generation Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra
Baltimore Operations in Maryland (Propulsion)
Warren Transmission Operations in Michigan
Hints of this announcement came out last night when reports from CTV and The Globe and Mail in Canada reported the closure of Oshawa.
The plant closures also mean a number of models being dropped - including the LaCrosse, CT6, Impala, and Volt. The Cruze will be built in Mexico for other markets.
It was expected GM was going to make some changes to address the underutilization of its plants. Dara from the Center for Automotive Research says GM represents 1 million of the 3.2 million units of underutilized capacity in the U.S. through October.
This announcement comes on the eve of negotiations with the UAW next year and Unifor in 2020. The UAW has announced that it will challenge GM's decision "through every legal, contractual and collective bargaining avenue open to our membership."
The announcement has brought pushback from politicians. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed "deep disappointment" with the decision. U.S. Senator Rob Portman, a Republican from Ohio express frustration with the possible shutdown of Lordstown.
One group not disappointed with the news is Wall Street. GM stock rose 6.18 percent to $38.00 per share at the time of this writing.
Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), Bloomberg, Reuters, Twitter, General Motors
General Motors Accelerates Transformation
Transforming the global enterprise to advance the company’s vision of Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions, Zero Congestion
Taking cost actions and optimizing capital expenditures to drive annual run-rate cash savings of approximately $6 billion by year-end 2020
DETROIT – General Motors (NYSE: GM) will accelerate its transformation for the future, building on the comprehensive strategy it laid out in 2015 to strengthen its core business, capitalize on the future of personal mobility and drive significant cost efficiencies.
Today, GM is continuing to take proactive steps to improve overall business performance including the reorganization of its global product development staffs, the realignment of its manufacturing capacity and a reduction of salaried workforce. These actions are expected to increase annual adjusted automotive free cash flow by $6 billion by year-end 2020 on a run-rate basis.
“The actions we are taking today continue our transformation to be highly agile, resilient and profitable, while giving us the flexibility to invest in the future,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. “We recognize the need to stay in front of changing market conditions and customer preferences to position our company for long-term success.”
Contributing to the cash savings of approximately $6 billion are cost reductions of $4.5 billion and a lower capital expenditure annual run rate of almost $1.5 billion. The actions include:
Transforming product development – GM is evolving its global product development workforce and processes to drive world-class levels of engineering in advanced technologies, and to improve quality and speed to market. Resources allocated to electric and autonomous vehicle programs will double in the next two years. Additional actions include:
Increasing high-quality component sharing across the portfolio, especially those not visible and perceptible to customers.
Expanding the use of virtual tools to lower development time and costs.
Integrating its vehicle and propulsion engineering teams.
Compressing its global product development campuses.
Optimizing product portfolio – GM has recently invested in newer, highly efficient vehicle architectures, especially in trucks, crossovers and SUVs. GM now intends to prioritize future vehicle investments in its next-generation battery-electric architectures. As the current vehicle portfolio is optimized, it is expected that more than 75 percent of GM’s global sales volume will come from five vehicle architectures by early next decade.
Increasing capacity utilization – In the past four years, GM has refocused capital and resources to support the growth of its crossovers, SUVs and trucks, adding shifts and investing $6.6 billion in U.S. plants that have created or maintained 17,600 jobs. With changing customer preferences in the U.S. and in response to market-related volume declines in cars, future products will be allocated to fewer plants next year.
Assembly plants that will be unallocated in 2019 include:
Oshawa Assembly in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Detroit.
Lordstown Assembly in Warren, Ohio.
Propulsion plants that will be unallocated in 2019 include:
Baltimore Operations in White Marsh, Maryland.
Warren Transmission Operations in Warren, Michigan.
In addition to the previously announced closure of the assembly plant in Gunsan, Korea, GM will cease the operations of two additional plants outside North America by the end of 2019.
These manufacturing actions are expected to significantly increase capacity utilization. To further enhance business performance, GM will continue working to improve other manufacturing costs, productivity and the competitiveness of wages and benefits.
Staffing transformation – The company is transforming its global workforce to ensure it has the right skill sets for today and the future, while driving efficiencies through the utilization of best-in-class tools. Actions are being taken to reduce salaried and salaried contract staff by 15 percent, which includes 25 percent fewer executives to streamline decision making.
Barra added, “These actions will increase the long-term profit and cash generation potential of the company and improve resilience through the cycle.”
GM expects to fund the restructuring costs through a new credit facility that will further improve the company’s strong liquidity position and enhance its financial flexibility.
GM expects to record pre-tax charges of $3.0 billion to $3.8 billion related to these actions, including up to $1.8 billion of non-cash accelerated asset write-downs and pension charges, and up to $2.0 billion of employee-related and other cash-based expenses. The majority of these charges will be considered special for EBIT-adjusted, EPS diluted-adjusted and adjusted automotive free cash flow purposes. The majority of these charges will be incurred in the fourth quarter of 2018 and first quarter of 2019, with some additional costs incurred through the remainder of 2019.

This morning, General Motors announced an overhaul of its operations in 2019 which will involve cutting more than 10,000 workers and possibly closing five plants by the end of the year. GM said the cuts should boost cash flow by six billion by the end of 2020.
“The actions we are taking today continue our transformation to be highly agile, resilient and profitable, while giving us the flexibility to invest in the future. We recognize the need to stay in front of changing market conditions and customer preferences to position our company for long-term success,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra in a statement.
The plants up for possible closure are,
Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Michigan - Home to Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac CT6, Chevrolet Impala, and Chevrolet Volt.
Lordstown Assembly in Ohio - Home to Chevrolet Cruze.
Oshawa Assembly in Ontario, Canada - Home to Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Impala, and finishing production of last-generation Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra
Baltimore Operations in Maryland (Propulsion)
Warren Transmission Operations in Michigan
Hints of this announcement came out last night when reports from CTV and The Globe and Mail in Canada reported the closure of Oshawa.
The plant closures also mean a number of models being dropped - including the LaCrosse, CT6, Impala, and Volt. The Cruze will be built in Mexico for other markets.
It was expected GM was going to make some changes to address the underutilization of its plants. Dara from the Center for Automotive Research says GM represents 1 million of the 3.2 million units of underutilized capacity in the U.S. through October.
This announcement comes on the eve of negotiations with the UAW next year and Unifor in 2020. The UAW has announced that it will challenge GM's decision "through every legal, contractual and collective bargaining avenue open to our membership."
The announcement has brought pushback from politicians. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed "deep disappointment" with the decision. U.S. Senator Rob Portman, a Republican from Ohio express frustration with the possible shutdown of Lordstown.
One group not disappointed with the news is Wall Street. GM stock rose 6.18 percent to $38.00 per share at the time of this writing.
Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), Bloomberg, Reuters, Twitter, General Motors
General Motors Accelerates Transformation
Transforming the global enterprise to advance the company’s vision of Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions, Zero Congestion
Taking cost actions and optimizing capital expenditures to drive annual run-rate cash savings of approximately $6 billion by year-end 2020
DETROIT – General Motors (NYSE: GM) will accelerate its transformation for the future, building on the comprehensive strategy it laid out in 2015 to strengthen its core business, capitalize on the future of personal mobility and drive significant cost efficiencies.
Today, GM is continuing to take proactive steps to improve overall business performance including the reorganization of its global product development staffs, the realignment of its manufacturing capacity and a reduction of salaried workforce. These actions are expected to increase annual adjusted automotive free cash flow by $6 billion by year-end 2020 on a run-rate basis.
“The actions we are taking today continue our transformation to be highly agile, resilient and profitable, while giving us the flexibility to invest in the future,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. “We recognize the need to stay in front of changing market conditions and customer preferences to position our company for long-term success.”
Contributing to the cash savings of approximately $6 billion are cost reductions of $4.5 billion and a lower capital expenditure annual run rate of almost $1.5 billion. The actions include:
Transforming product development – GM is evolving its global product development workforce and processes to drive world-class levels of engineering in advanced technologies, and to improve quality and speed to market. Resources allocated to electric and autonomous vehicle programs will double in the next two years. Additional actions include:
Increasing high-quality component sharing across the portfolio, especially those not visible and perceptible to customers.
Expanding the use of virtual tools to lower development time and costs.
Integrating its vehicle and propulsion engineering teams.
Compressing its global product development campuses.
Optimizing product portfolio – GM has recently invested in newer, highly efficient vehicle architectures, especially in trucks, crossovers and SUVs. GM now intends to prioritize future vehicle investments in its next-generation battery-electric architectures. As the current vehicle portfolio is optimized, it is expected that more than 75 percent of GM’s global sales volume will come from five vehicle architectures by early next decade.
Increasing capacity utilization – In the past four years, GM has refocused capital and resources to support the growth of its crossovers, SUVs and trucks, adding shifts and investing $6.6 billion in U.S. plants that have created or maintained 17,600 jobs. With changing customer preferences in the U.S. and in response to market-related volume declines in cars, future products will be allocated to fewer plants next year.
Assembly plants that will be unallocated in 2019 include:
Oshawa Assembly in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Detroit.
Lordstown Assembly in Warren, Ohio.
Propulsion plants that will be unallocated in 2019 include:
Baltimore Operations in White Marsh, Maryland.
Warren Transmission Operations in Warren, Michigan.
In addition to the previously announced closure of the assembly plant in Gunsan, Korea, GM will cease the operations of two additional plants outside North America by the end of 2019.
These manufacturing actions are expected to significantly increase capacity utilization. To further enhance business performance, GM will continue working to improve other manufacturing costs, productivity and the competitiveness of wages and benefits.
Staffing transformation – The company is transforming its global workforce to ensure it has the right skill sets for today and the future, while driving efficiencies through the utilization of best-in-class tools. Actions are being taken to reduce salaried and salaried contract staff by 15 percent, which includes 25 percent fewer executives to streamline decision making.
Barra added, “These actions will increase the long-term profit and cash generation potential of the company and improve resilience through the cycle.”
GM expects to fund the restructuring costs through a new credit facility that will further improve the company’s strong liquidity position and enhance its financial flexibility.
GM expects to record pre-tax charges of $3.0 billion to $3.8 billion related to these actions, including up to $1.8 billion of non-cash accelerated asset write-downs and pension charges, and up to $2.0 billion of employee-related and other cash-based expenses. The majority of these charges will be considered special for EBIT-adjusted, EPS diluted-adjusted and adjusted automotive free cash flow purposes. The majority of these charges will be incurred in the fourth quarter of 2018 and first quarter of 2019, with some additional costs incurred through the remainder of 2019.
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General Motors' announcement to idle and possibly close five plants next year comes around the same time that the company begins their negotiations with the United Auto Workers (UAW). Already, the UAW has said they would go "through every legal, contractual and collective bargaining avenue open to our membership," to try and keep the plants.
GM's rationale for the move is to improve profitability and help reduce the underutilization of its plants. As we reported last week, GM represents 1 million of the 3.2 million units of underutilized capacity in the U.S. through October.
We should note that GM did not say they were going to close down the plants. They used the word "unallocated". We'll let The Detroit News explain why.
Emphasis mine. Under the current contract, GM cannot close or idle any plant unless it is done through the collective bargaining process. By not providing any future products, GM may have found a loophole they can use in the negotiations. But it may have opened up a Pandora's box.
"This was long planned through intentional strategic investment decisions and product movement over our objections. They may have kept the news about it quiet, but this was planned and had to be gradually executed long before sales numbers were known,” the UAW said in a statement to the News.
"GM and the UAW will talk about numerous topics that affect our employees and our business during 2019 negotiations. As always, our intent is to work with the UAW constructively to address our business challenges in a way that keeps the company competitive in these changing market conditions," GM said in a statement.
Source: The Detroit News

General Motors' announcement to idle and possibly close five plants next year comes around the same time that the company begins their negotiations with the United Auto Workers (UAW). Already, the UAW has said they would go "through every legal, contractual and collective bargaining avenue open to our membership," to try and keep the plants.
GM's rationale for the move is to improve profitability and help reduce the underutilization of its plants. As we reported last week, GM represents 1 million of the 3.2 million units of underutilized capacity in the U.S. through October.
We should note that GM did not say they were going to close down the plants. They used the word "unallocated". We'll let The Detroit News explain why.
Emphasis mine. Under the current contract, GM cannot close or idle any plant unless it is done through the collective bargaining process. By not providing any future products, GM may have found a loophole they can use in the negotiations. But it may have opened up a Pandora's box.
"This was long planned through intentional strategic investment decisions and product movement over our objections. They may have kept the news about it quiet, but this was planned and had to be gradually executed long before sales numbers were known,” the UAW said in a statement to the News.
"GM and the UAW will talk about numerous topics that affect our employees and our business during 2019 negotiations. As always, our intent is to work with the UAW constructively to address our business challenges in a way that keeps the company competitive in these changing market conditions," GM said in a statement.
Source: The Detroit News
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General Motors made a big deal about a new 2.7L turbo-four that would be available on the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500. This engine promises more power, better towing, and improved fuel economy when compared to the 4.3L V6 engine. But when the official fuel economy figures came out, the engine became somewhat less impressive.
The EPA rates the 2.7L turbo-four at 20 City/23 Highway/21 Combined for the 2WD variant and 19/22/20 for the 4WD variant. That isn't a huge improvement on the V6s found in the Ford F-150 and Ram 1500.
F-150 with 3.3L V6: 19/25/22 (2WD), 18/23/20 (4WD)
F-150 with 2.7L EcoBoost V6: 20/26/22 (2WD), 19/24/21 (4WD)
Ram 1500 with 3.6L V6: 20/25/22 (2WD), 19/24/21 (4WD)
"If you're delivering on everything, and you're getting the same fuel economy, the question is, 'Why?' " explained Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst at IHS Markit.
Officials at GM say the EPA ratings don't tell the whole story on the new engine. Like a diesel engine, " fuel economy will be better in the real world than its predecessor and will at least match comparable V-6 models from competitors," they said.
"I don't think we're done with the fuel economy piece yet," said Tim Herrick, executive chief engineer of GM's full-size trucks to Automotive News.
"Don't look at the label. We're as good or better than them in every step."
Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)
View full article

General Motors made a big deal about a new 2.7L turbo-four that would be available on the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500. This engine promises more power, better towing, and improved fuel economy when compared to the 4.3L V6 engine. But when the official fuel economy figures came out, the engine became somewhat less impressive.
The EPA rates the 2.7L turbo-four at 20 City/23 Highway/21 Combined for the 2WD variant and 19/22/20 for the 4WD variant. That isn't a huge improvement on the V6s found in the Ford F-150 and Ram 1500.
F-150 with 3.3L V6: 19/25/22 (2WD), 18/23/20 (4WD)
F-150 with 2.7L EcoBoost V6: 20/26/22 (2WD), 19/24/21 (4WD)
Ram 1500 with 3.6L V6: 20/25/22 (2WD), 19/24/21 (4WD)
"If you're delivering on everything, and you're getting the same fuel economy, the question is, 'Why?' " explained Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst at IHS Markit.
Officials at GM say the EPA ratings don't tell the whole story on the new engine. Like a diesel engine, " fuel economy will be better in the real world than its predecessor and will at least match comparable V-6 models from competitors," they said.
"I don't think we're done with the fuel economy piece yet," said Tim Herrick, executive chief engineer of GM's full-size trucks to Automotive News.
"Don't look at the label. We're as good or better than them in every step."
Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

General Motors took a page out Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' playbook by continuing the build the outgoing-generation Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra alongside the next-generation models in an effort to keep sales up. But sooner or later, the previous-generation models will end production. When is that?
During GM's third-quarter earnings call, CFO Dhivya Suryadevarat said the automaker would begin winding down production the K2 crew cab models early next year, followed by double cab and regular cab models beginning in "the early second half of next year."
GM's Oshawa, Ontario plant has been helping with the production of the outgoing models. According to Automotive News, Oshawa receives unfinished Silverado and Sierra double cab bodies from the Fort Wayne, Indiana plant. Models are painted and undergo final assembly. Known as the "Oshawa shuttle," it started at the beginning of the year and would add heavy-duty pickups and a second production shift in the summer. GM spokeswoman Kim Carpenter told AN the program is expected to "run into late 2019 based on market demand."
Production of the next-generation (T1) pickups began in July at Fort Wayne, followed by double cab models last month. GM's Silao, Mexico plant will begin production of the regular and crew cab models in January. Unlike FCA, which experienced a number of problems with the launch of the next-generation Ram 1500, GM was able to deliver 45,000 next-generation pickups in the third-quarter.
The big question is what happens to the hourly workers building the trucks at Oshawa. GM declined to comment, but AN speculates they could be laid off or moved to other positions.
Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)